1. Field
One or more aspects of embodiments according to the present invention relate to serial communication links, and more particularly to a system and method for reliably starting a point-to-multi-point link.
2. Description of Related Art
A video display, e.g., an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display or a liquid crystal display (LCD) may include drive electronics including a timing controller (TCON) and a plurality of driver integrated circuits (DICs). Each DIC may be responsible for controlling a portion of the display. The TCON may send data to each DIC, including video data defining the image to be displayed on the portion of the display for which the DIC is responsible. The data links from the TCON to the DICs may be high-speed serial links, forming a point-to-multi-point serial communications system including a multiple-output transmitter in the TCON and a receiver in each of the DICs.
The serial links may require a multi-state startup procedure to begin operation after power-up. For example, after power-up, the TCON may initially transmit a clock pattern on each serial data lane, to allow clock and data recovery (CDR) blocks in the DICs to be initialized. Once all of the PLLs are initialized, the TCON may begin to transmit data to the DICs. The time required for initialization of a CDR may vary depending on its initial state. The TCON may therefore transmit the clock pattern for an interval of time that is relatively long, to provide a high-likelihood that all DIC CDRs will be initialized when the TCON transitions to transmitting data, so that the display may start reliably. This approach results in a relatively slow start-up.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for starting a point-to-multi-point serial communications system quickly and reliably.